One Heart to Another
by princeoftheimmortals
Summary: Maybe it was, in fact, a bit creepy. But after years of watching his beloved from afar, Kisshu discovers one night that Ichigo Momomiya's perfect boyfriend may not be so perfect after all. Now it's up to him to get her out of a bad situation. Rated T just to be safe. Cover image credit to original owner!
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! I'm back after forever...And I have a new fic that I'm going to start, so I hope you all enjoy it! This first chapter is short just to get me started, they'll be longer in the future I promise!

~Lyn

Even years later, he still found himself hovering outside the bedroom of Ichigo Momomiya. Every so often, she came home from college, and Kisshu enjoyed watching her read or surf the internet. Strangely enough, he had never seen that Aoyama kid around after his departure with Taruto and Pai. But maybe that was due to the fact that he never stayed for too long, and his visits were infrequent.

On this particular night, Ichigo looked a bit more tired than usual. Kisshu didn't know much about the concept of 'college', but it wasn't hard to deduce that it was, in fact, stressful for the majority. He watched her pull out her singular ponytail, letting her long strawberry hair fall down just barely past her shoulders.

Her usual routine would have her grabbing a set of pajamas and heading off to the bathroom, but something was off tonight. Maybe it was the way she carelessly tossed her hair ribbon onto her desk. Maybe it was the way she had kicked off her mary-jane shoes and left them overturned in the corner. Maybe it was the way she seemed to drift over to her bed, rain in the edges of her eyes, letting herself fall onto the rosy pink bed sheets.

Either way, he could sense the exhaustion radiating from each breath that raised her chest up and down. She curled up into a ball facing away from the window and lay there on top of the bed sheets for a long time, unmoving. It almost looked like she was crying, but when she sat up again, her makeup was all perfectly in place.

He confirmed something was wrong by the way she ripped off her bell collar and hurled it at the sliding glass window.

The loud thunk against the glass startled Kisshu, and he fell from the tree, landing flat on his back on the concrete walkway in front of her house. He groaned, not hearing the window above slowly slide open.

"Wh-who's there?" Ichigo's wavering voice just barely made it's way to his ears.

Kisshu sat up quickly and remained rigid, not wanting to teleport to give away his identity. The red head looked around for a few more moments, then pulled back inside and shut the window before her eyes could adjust to the dark.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then flew back up to his perch on the tree. The bell still lay on the floor next to the glass where it had fallen as she sat down in front of her mirror and pulled out a small towelette from a box.

He couldn't understand why she was wiping purple stains around her face and on her arms until he realized several minutes later that it was cover up that was coming off onto the cloth.

Kisshu's mouth dropped open and he froze, staring at all the bruises decorating his beloved's body, not realizing she was staring back at his reflection in the mirror.

Ichigo dropped her makeup remover towelette. She didn't dare move an inch, but she could see someone watching her through the window. Her mirror was positioned at just the right angle so that she could see outside, and there was definitely a figure sitting in the tree.

Her pulse quickened and her breathing got shaky. What if it was him...?

Trying to act casual, Ichigo leaned over, pretending to pick up the cloth but secretly reaching for her Mew Pendant, which she kept in a small crook under her desk. Her fingers clenched tightly around the dusty metal that hadn't been touched for years-

And then her ears filled with a distantly familiar sound as a pair of paled hands clasped around her mouth.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone, it hasn't been too long thank goodness. I'm trying to stay on top of this, and I'm also trying to get back into the groove of fanfiction, it's been awhile so I'm a bit rusty and my chapters are shorter than the ones I did years ago. Thank you to the few who noticed my story and reviewed, that means a lot 3

~Lyn

"Shh! Ichigo!" Kisshu hissed at her, trying to keep her quiet. The girl was reflexively fighting, clawing at his thin arms leaving long trails of bright red skin. But those were nothing compared to the dark purple blotches tattooed onto her body. They swarmed her peachy complex like a toxin.

He tried again, wrapping one arm around her waist and letting his hand fall off of her mouth. "Ichigo, it's me, Kisshu."

Ichigo froze, her breath faltering. She glanced down at the skeleton fingers with ragged nails that were wrapped around her. The bandages on the arms, the wisps of green in the corners of her eyes, the scent of dirt mixed with the smallest amount of spices...

All of the air slowly let out of her lungs, and she sagged her head forward in relief. _It's nice_, she realized, _to be held like this and not be afraid for once..._  
Bandages. Green. Spices. Just as suddenly, the Mew Mew snapped her head up and jammed her elbow into the alien's left rib. Kisshu let out a sharp cough and doubled over, clutching his torso. "I-Ichi-?"

"What are you doing?!" She spat the words out at him harsh, just like so many times in the past. The tone jostled something in Kisshu's memory and he felt a twinge of pain growing in the back of his mind. "And why are you here?! You creep, I thought I heard something earlier! Peeping through my window-"

"Ichigo-"

"-and then coming into my room?! Out of all the lewd, perverted things for you to do, I can't believe you-"

"_Ichigo_-"

"-have the indecency to _spy_ on me and then intrude on my privacy! Just how long exactly were you sitting out there? How many times have I slept in my room while you were just outside my window? It's been how many years now, and you still can't-"

"_Ichigo_!"

Ichigo paused mid-rant, pink eyes dilated ever so slightly like a cat's. Her knuckles were white around her Mew Pendant, and she was poised to activate her transformation.

Kisshu didn't quite know what to say. Under any other circumstance, he would have tried to hug her again, or tease her and ask her if she'd missed him. The truth was, regardless of how much she loathed him following her like a puppy, he always kept safe the little part of him that still believed she could one day love him. He'd always love her, his rebellious kitty-cat. But now wasn't the time for any of his moronic antics. After years of rehearsing all the things he wanted to tell her, no words came to his mind to express what needed to be said. All that time practicing gone to waste because as much as he wanted to, now was the wrong time to tell her he missed her.

Her shallow breathing filled the room. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway below filtered through the pink walls. Ichigo glanced down, then slowly walked over to her bedroom door and turned the lock.

The daggers from years ago were still embedded deep into in her words, stabbing him with every syllable. "What do you want, Kisshu."

Kisshu looked down, chewing on the inside of his mouth. He had to say something, but every smooth line and witty comeback he had in his arsenal were inapplicable to this moment.

"If you've come to declare your unending love for me, you can get the hell out of here right now."

He winced, accidentally letting the hurt show on his face ever so slightly. Although it had been a dream of his to come back and have her dramatically come running into his arms sobbing that she had made a mistake, he felt it all shatter at the conformation, once again, that Ichigo Momomiya despised every part of his being.

"What. Do. You. Want. From. Me."

No time to think. "I just-" Damn, why was it so hard to talk to her now? Is that what years without a face to face conversation did?

"Just?"

"I just...wanted to make sure you were...doing okay..." The end of his sentence trailed off into a mumble.

"What?" The edge in her voice abruptly disappeared, only to be replaced with complete confusion. "If I'm okay? Of co-"

"You're not though," Kisshu interjected. If he was going to say anything, it needed to be now before she dumped him out the window. "Okay, I have been being really creepy lately... But Ichigo, I never would have bothered you if it weren't-" He strode over to her cautiously, and gingerly lifted her arm. "-for this-"

"That's none of your business!" Ichigo yanked her arm away.

Kisshu backed off just out of range of her fist's reach. "Ichigo, I just want to know what happened."

"Get out, Kisshu," she whispered through clenched teeth.

"Koneko-chan..." He reached out to brush her hair behind her ear, then stopped at the way she ducked her head and scrunched her eyes shut, flinching.

"Don't-don't call me-"'

"Oh Ichigo..."

She darted around him, grabbing a mismatching pajama top and shorts, then headed out of the room, leaving Kisshu standing alone in the middle of her pink carpet. He sighed and turned to go as he heard the shower turn on, and opened the window. Quietly, he shut it behind him and hovered back over to his spot on the tree.

The door to her bedroom opened slowly about an hour later. He didn't notice at first through his tired eyes, but he saw when she stood in the spot where he had been and looked around.

Ichigo opened her window again. "K-Kisshu...?" His name sounded so foreign to her tongue when she said it gently.

Kisshu didn't answer, knowing she couldn't see him.

"Ah...I guess you're not here anymore, which is my fault I guess... But if you are, I wanted to know if y-you could stay with me tonight...so that I feel safe..."

His ears perked up at that, but he still didn't respond.

Ichigo sighed, shutting the window, but, he noticed, not locking it. The alien watched as she tossed a pillow onto the floor next to her bed and lay a blanket down by it. The light flickered off.

After several more minutes of waiting in the tree, which was getting noticeably less comfortable, he slid open the glass and quietly entered her room, which seemed more welcoming now. He didn't noticed her eyes peeking at him through her eyelashes as he lay down, he didn't feel her fingers gently brush his hair as he fell asleep, and he didn't realize that she was closing her eyes without feeling scared for the first time in months.


	3. Chapter 3

I hope that after this fanfiction I can write something more intricate and detailed. I suppose this is my stepping stone to get back into the swing of things, I'm so rusty. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm trying to make them a bit longer.

~Lyn

The first time Ichigo's alarm went off, she slammed the snooze button down without realizing it, rolled over, and promptly fell asleep again. The second time it went off, thirty minutes later, she jolted upright and was horrified to realize she was running late. And it was Saturday.

Saturday was date day.

She scrambled out of bed, not noticing that Kisshu had left the first time her alarm had buzzed, mostly because it had startled him. Date day. She was running late for her Saturday date for the second week in a row.

The first thing in her closet that caught her eye was a yellow tank top, which she grabbed off the hanger, followed by a denim jacket and Capri's. When Masaya had first suggested the idea of designating every Saturday as their day to go out, Ichigo had been ecstatic. After all a whole day to spend with her beloved Aoyama-kun was quite nearly the best thing ever. She had wanted to spend every second of ever day with him always at his side.  
But gradually over the last couple of years, he had...changed. Sure, he was still Masaya on the outside, but the part of him that would have sacrificed himself for Ichigo so many years ago seemed to be dwindling away little by little. His environmental volunteer work nearly always came first, and although they had decided to move in together in a small apartment, he often came home late and left early. Once she had asked him if he thought the environment was more important than her, which had led to a full scale argument over how she shouldn't ever compare herself to that, and ended with her locking herself in the bathroom for several hours while Masaya stormed out.

She loved him so much, but sometimes she missed the boy she had fell in love with when she was thirteen.

Of course, none of that was important at the moment. Ichigo was too busy coating her arms in foundation and decorating her eyes with eyeliner and mascara to think of anything else.

Last week, she had arrived 15 minutes late at the restaurant because she had been up late working on a school project. Not only had Aoyama been upset, he had dedicated the rest of the day to one-word answers, and had made her pay for both shares of the food.

No, she absolutely could not be late again.

Ichigo was dressed and running out the door in her sneakers in record time. Five minutes.

The light at the crosswalk was taking too long. Four minutes.

Saturdays were always busy in this part of town, why couldn't people just walk faster? Three minutes.

She was gasping for breath and stopped to walk for several feet. Two minutes.

At last, with one minute to go, the movie theater entrance came into view. She sprinted towards the main entrance and burst into the main lobby, flustered and panting hard. Masaya was sitting at a table on the side and waved her over.

"You made it today!" His voice was cheerful and she forced a tired smile back, but a small part of her caught the glint in his eye that said he had been expecting her to be tardy.

"Y-yeah, I did."

"C'mon," he said, standing up and putting his arm around her waist, waving two tickets in the air with his free hand. "I got us tickets for the new horror film that came out a week ago."

She lowered her head as the attendant ripped off the stubs and handed them back to Masaya. "A-Aoyama-kun, you know I don-"

"I know, I know, you don't like horror too much, but I think you'll really like this movie. It's a different kind of horror, not screaming or violent or anything. The main. character goes..."

He continued to talk about what the movie was about, fading into a background noise as Ichigo unconsciously began throwing her mental barriers up. She didn't hear him ask if she wanted butter on the popcorn when they reached the concession stand, and only nodded slightly because she knew he was saying something. When they got into the theater, the commercials had already started. Both of them sat in the middle of the top row, Ichigo snuggling into Masaya's arm around her shoulder, mostly in anxious anticipation.

Kisshu was sitting in yet another tree, this one in the park across the street from the theater Ichigo had just run into. When her clock had gone off that morning, it had scared him to death, and he had thought there was some sort of emergency. _What a dumb method of getting yourself awake_, he grumbled to himself.

It hurt a little watching her speed through her morning routine without even wondering where he had gone. For whatever reason, the human calendar only had seven days instead of the ten he was used to. Every seventh day was Ichigo's day with the stupid human boy.

Kisshu hated when they went to the movies or a restaurant or the museum. If they were just in the park he could watch them at least. In the buildings however, he lost track of her and that made him uncomfortable.

The alien sighed again, leaning back against the trunk of the tree and closing his eyes. Come think of it, he _was_ being a little creepy. He mused over it for awhile, and then shrugged it off, because after all, he had always been a creep.

About an hour later, he was pulled from his nap by the sound of voices below him.

"Ichigo I _paid _for us to see that!" Aoyama wasn't yelling, but the look in his eyes was so much more venomous than that. Ichigo turned to walk away, visibly shaken, but he grabbed her arm harder than he should have. "Don't walk away from me Ichigo."

"Aoyama-kun I can't-"

"Can't what? I just wasted twenty-five dollars because you walked out halfway through! It wasn't that scary, what's wrong with you?"

"I-I'm sorry Aoyama-kun but I don't like-"

"Enough with the bullshit!" Ichigo was familiar with that tone and was flinching before he even raised his hand and slapped her across the face.  
There was no one else around in the park. Kisshu stared long and hard at what he had just witnessed. That asshole had just _slapped_ his beloved Koneko-chan. Out of all the things...

He came to another realization: that explained all the bruises on her arms.

Masaya Aoyama, her perfect, tan prince charming was...abusing her...?

"S-Sorry..." she stammered.

Evidently Masaya knew he shouldn't have done that as well, because he puked out a half-hearted apology and moved to hug her, but she pushed him away and ran off.

Masaya stood blankly in the park watching his girlfriend leave him behind. As much as Kisshu wanted to strangle him, Ichigo was his main concern. He got up quietly and flew after her.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm back! This chapter made it to two pages on Microsoft word, so I guess that's progress, right? I hope you all enjoy, and thank you LovelyLilly13 for letting me know it wasn't publishing correctly! (Also, there may or may not be fluff coming up sometime…mwehehe…)

~Lyn

Her home was just around the corner, but she didn't stop there for fear Masaya would come after her. Instead, she streaked past and slowed to a stop in a small alleyway, breathing hard.

Ichigo's head was swimming, partially from the slap, partially from wondering why Aoyama-kun had done that. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching her, she positioned herself between two garbage cans and slumped against the wall, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

He'd hit her again.

It hadn't been the first time; on several occasions he had come home just a bit tipsy and had freaked over trivial things. The red-head wondered to herself what she could do to do better, to make him love her the way he did back when he was Deep Blue.

Except the problem was, this was all him. Unlike Deep Blue, this side of him couldn't be exorcised.

This time, she let the tears fall, and rehearsed in her head how she was going to formally apologize and make it up to him. _Aoyama-kun, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking and it won't happen again... I'm really sorry Aoyama-kun, I'll pay you back and I won't do it next time..._

Her nose was dripping and she wiped it away with a tissue from her purse. Smears of wet, black mascara came off, and she realized she was probably looking like a raccoon now. Sitting on the ground wasn't comfortable, but at least it was quiet with no one around.

Except for Kisshu, who had lost track of her and became the tiniest bit frantic when he didn't see her at her home. There was no way he could just call her name and attract attention to himself. At the same time, he needed to find her, and that would be the easiest way.

The street was empty, and so he landed, hoping to find her if he could see things at ground level. Kisshu ran a finger through his forest green hair, sighing to himself. He was being creepy again. Would this qualify as 'stalking'...?

Further down the street, he passed by the small alley where he had cornered Ichigo and tried to make her come with him. Now that he was older, he could see why she had been so scared.

For nostalgia's sake, he turned into it. At the end was a tall, ragged, white wall, which he gingerly touched, then leaned his forehead against. "Ichigo...please be okay..."

The red head, who hadn't noticed him, raised her head from her knees only to find Kisshu standing above her, head against a wall.

"K-Kisshu?"

He jumped, looking around quickly until he laid eyes on her. "Ichigo! Ichigo, you-" Before he finished his sentence, he knelt down and drew her into a tight embrace, stroking her messy strawberry hair. It smelled like peaches actually, but that didn't matter. Nothing else did, his beloved was safe right here with him, and that was most important.

"Kisshu...?" she whispered, confused, but not shoving him away as was traditional.

"Shh, don't talk, you don't have to say anything right now. I've got you, you're safe."

"...Kisshu..." Ichigo's voice cracked as she flung her arms around his neck and clung to the back of his shirt, breaking out in silent sobbing.

"It...started so long ago I can't recall..." Ichigo began hesitantly. Her and Kisshu sat atop Tokyo Tower, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her waist. It was midday, and the sun had already began its descent. A slow breeze passed around them, flitting about their hair and gently moving their clothes back and forth in a casual sway. Ichigo had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red and puffy, and her voice quiet and submissive,

"Go on," Kisshu coaxed her gently. He felt the same way he had felt in her room yesterday: ecstatic to be around her, hell, even _holding_ her, but also restrained because this was the wrong time to profess his endless affection for his kitty-cat.

There was another long pause as a flock of birds flew past. "...Or...I guess it really started when we went off to college..."

Kisshu stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt her.

"Aoyama-kun and I...we both went to different colleges, but they're both still in the area. He always has been into the environment, which I never minded. I always thought it was cute, the way he was so concerned about the planet." She took a breath. "Then he joined this one environmental club...And everything started going downhill little by little."

"How so?"

"Well I-he-first, he began coming home later and later. I barely saw him on weekdays since he 'had a club meeting' or 'had volunteer work'. Then one night I think he had had a bit much to drink..."

Kisshu looked sideways at her. "Drink?"

"Alcohol-drink alcohol. It makes your head funny."

"Oh."

She continued. "I didn't realize he was...drunk because I was in the bathroom taking a shower...When I came out, he was sitting on the couch with the television on."

Kisshu had no idea which human device was a television, but he didn't bother to ask.

"And I asked him, 'Aoyama-kun, you're never around anymore, is the environment really so much more important than I am?' The-" Ichigo's words caught in her throat. "The look he gave me...it...wasn't Aoyama-kun anymore...He started yelling about things that didn't make sense, and then he-he-"

"He hit you," Kisshu concluded.

The waterworks had started up again. "That's why-that's why my arms..." Her sentence trailed off into sniffles.

The alien didn't quite know what to say. He had somewhat been able to infer that this is what had been going on, but now that it had all been presented to him, he realized he wasn't much of an advice giver. "Ichigo..."

"I'm so scared, Kisshu... Why doesn't he love me? What can I do better?"

He was shocked. "Ichigo, none of this is your fault! It's him who's in the wrong here."

She sat up shaking her head, still sitting as close to him as possible. "He used to love me, I just need to find out how to make him love me again...What's wrong with me..."

Kisshu pulled her closer. "Nothing is, Koneko-chan."

The nickname didn't bother her this time. "I-I'll figure something out..."

"Ichigo, you deserve so much better than him."

"No, he deserves better than me."

"You can't stay in a relationship with him if he hurts you!" He raised his tone unknowingly in frustration.

She reacted immediately and pushed away from him. "It's not his fault that I'm a bad girlfriend!"

"Damn it Ichigo, you need to find someone who'll love unconditionally you for who you are!"

"What, like you?!" she spat back.

Kisshu's mind stopped mid-thought as if broken. He stared at Ichigo, at her hair moving with the wind, at her bright and perfect eyes. Once again, he wanted to tell her yes, _he _would love her, _he_ would never hurt her, _he_ would treat her like the beautiful princess she was.  
But what came out instead was, "...No...Not me..." Gingerly, he took her hand and teleported her back down to the base of the tower. It was considerably warmer at ground level.

Ichigo had instantly regretted what she had said. "Kisshu, I-"

He put a finger to his lips as he smiled at her with glazed over eyes, then teleported away before she could see him cry with raw emotion.


	5. Chapter 5

It's been awhile guys, sorry about that! Recently, I've come to realize that I identify as transgender, which has been a roller coaster in and of itself. But I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I should be able to to update more frequently now ^-^

~Ren

The look he'd had in his eyes haunted Ichigo for the next several days. The blank stare he'd given her, even though she'd never seen it on him before, was so strangely familiar it was eerie. It was almost as though he was looking right through her instead of at her.

It was almost as if he'd been genuinely hurt by her choice of words.

"Momomiya-san, question five on the board please."

She didn't hear the teacher over the noise of her own thoughts as she stared into the scratch marks on her desk. He couldn't have been hurt. That was always the way they'd treated each other so long ago. He'd go on about how infatuated he was with her, and she would harshly reject him. It was, in a way, the natural order of things.

So what _was_ that look he gave her?

"Momomiya-san?"

Was he still just as childish as he was before? Was it even possible that he was still trying to get her to 'run away with him', as though she had nothing she was leaving behind?

The more Ichigo rolled it over in her head, the more angry she became at his interference in her life. He'd already left her overly jittery about any unknown men when she was thirteen. She could excuse his behavior back then since they were both young and immature. But now? Now was just-

"Pssst. Ichigo." Mint, who was sitting next to her, tapped her shoulder, causing her to jolt out of her internal debate.

"Question five, Momomiya-san?"

"Ah- Yes, yes, I'm sorry, right away."

Ichigo hated that the only time slot available for her math class was at night. Mint always walked home with her part of the way, but since Ichigo lived several blocks past, the majority of the walk was by herself. It was on quiet nights like these that she wished she could afford a car, a luxury that her part-time job just could not pay for.

But in the meantime, she was grateful they hadn't reached Mint's house yet.

"What was up with you today?" Mint draped her french braid over her shoulder and nudged Ichigo with her elbow. "Thinking about lover-boy?"

Ichigo laughed in that way that never felt quite right, and yet, it had become somewhat normal. "Yeah, you know I always am."

Mint smirked back at her. "I always thought that you and him were just a teenage crush thing, yknow? Average, every-day girl likes the popular boy, but it's not the real deal. But you two have been together for so long, I'm impressed."

"Well, the relationship has its faults but we're always working on them." Why did that sentence feel like a lie? They _were _working on them. She was trying to be more considerate of how he was feeling and he was working on spending more time with her without getting upset.

"You feel like an old, married couple yet?" Mint laughed, oblivious to the reality of Ichigo's situation. "Or are you still on newly weds on your honeymoon?"

"I wouldn't know what either of those are like, we're not actually married, Mint!" Ichigo flushed and choked out another laugh. She didn't really feel like laughing tonight, but she felt even less like explaining why she was upset. "But I definitely still lo-"

A pang of fear flashed through her.

"-ve him. He's my Prince Charming."

Mint input the password to open the giant iron gates at the front of her house. "I'm jealous of you two. Must be nice to have a boyfriend. I'll see you on Monday, Ichigo!"

"See you later." The sort-of-cheerful air vanished as Mint disappeared into her mansion.

Maybe she should ask to use Mint's car. But Mint was all about getting fresh air and exercise, so asking again probably wouldn't do much.

Her thoughts wandered back to Kisshu as the silence around her rushed her home. She hadn't seen him since last Saturday. But he was probably being creepy and watching her from a distance. The idea of being watched while out alone triggered her anxiety, and she glanced behind herself quickly.  
The welcoming porch lights of her home never seemed to come into view soon enough, but she was grateful to see the soft, circular glow as she turned the corner.

What wasn't so welcoming was the blue car parked in front, partly covered in shadows from the tree outside her bedroom window. Or the man leaning against it, arms folded.

When she got closer, she could make out the black hair and tanned skin.

"A-Aoyama-kun? Why are you-"

His glare jammed her words right back down her throat and left them melting in her stomach. "Why didn't you pick up your phone, Ichigo?"  
Using her first name used to be something that symbolized their closeness, the seriousness of their relationship. How much they meant to each other.

It didn't feel very endearing, the way he dragged her name around her skin like a knife, not deep enough to do damage but enough to scare her.

"M-my phone?" As the panic began setting in, she shoved her hand into her bag and found the phone charm sticking out from underneath all over her books. She yanked it out, nearly dropping it. Flipping it open, the notifications on the screen screamed at her.

Missed call missed call missed call missed call missed call missed call missed call missed call missed call.

How many were there? How many times had she not picked up? Why was her phone set to silent? Why hadn't she picked up?

_Class_, she thought to herself, trying to control her breathing, _I was in class, that's a good reason._

"Why didn't you answer my calls, Ichigo." He wasn't asking. He wasn't waiting for an answer.

She had to salvage whatever reasoning she could with him. "I-I-I have class on Friday nights, Aoyama-kun, I put my phone on silent so that it wo-"

"Are my calls not important to you, Ichigo? I mean so little to you that you don't even bother to check your phone?" Masaya's voice was calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that made her feel like she was walking on thin ice, that if she put too much weight anywhere she would fall through and drown in the water. No one would notice if she was gone either.

Maybe she'd already fell through a long time ago and hadn't noticed. Maybe Masaya was the frozen water she thought she loved, so she hadn't minded suffocating in it.

Those thoughts vanished as her boyfriend continued to rail on her. "I put up with so much just to be with you, Ichigo. I spent a few years of my life worrying about _your_ life because you had to be off saving the world. I put up with that perverted alien stalking you and trying to take you away from me, I've stayed with you all this time, Ichigo. And you..." An ominous pause filled the silence.

_"You can't even be bothered to look at your fucking phone?!"_

The loud words slammed into her. She could feel herself nearly crying. No, no crying, he hated that, crying was-

"Are you _crying_ you bitch?! After what you put me through, you act like you're the victim?!"

"Aoyama, I-"

He grabbed her phone and snapped it in half, then got into his car and drove away, leaving Ichigo behind in a puddle of dripping mascara and foundation.

Ichigo stumbled into her empty house and tried to flip the lights on but missed. She climbed the stairs to her room and opened the door, staring at everything for several seconds before finding the motivation to throw herself onto her bed. Everything felt distant and unfamiliar.

The moonlight fell through her window just enough that she could see her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes looked tired, her makeup was nearly all gone, and the dark purple bruise by her ear from a month early still hadn't faded out completely.

No wonder he didn't love her as much as before. She looked awful, and was inconsiderate about how he was feeling on top of all that. She had put him through so much and offered nothing in return. Of course he'd be upset. Anyone would be. She was an awful girlfriend.

Why hadn't she realized that sooner?


	6. Chapter 6

I did it! A new chapter within a reasonable time slot. Chapter 7 is in the making as well, so that's good.

Also, quick shout out to LovelyLily13 who always leaves such sweet reviews, thank you for enjoying my fic! And another thank you to everyone else who leaves reviews, they really do mean the world to me 3

~Ren

"Hey, Kisshu. I'm bored, let's go play with Pai's things in the lab."

Kisshu yanked down his younger adopted brother who was floating in the air behind him while playing with his ears. "Not today."

"You said that yesterday though." Tart, who was now in his mid-teens had long since abandoned the childish pig tails and traded them for a single ponytail that fell to right above his shoulders. In comparison to the other two aliens however, he was still just as immature as always.

"I don't feel like it, kid. You'll understand when you're older."

"Is this about Samara again? Did you two have another fight?"

Samara was Kisshu's ex-girlfriend. He'd been with her more out of loneliness than because he loved her. When he left her a few years ago, she'd resorted partly to the cold shoulder, partly to crying about how much she missed him.

At least he didn't act that desperate around Ichigo.

"Kisshu?"

"What?"

Tart sighed, floating on his back. "You're hopeless, you know that?"

"Yeah. I know."

"But you've been too quiet lately, even for you. So I'll tell you something useful."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I know a thing or two about girls, despite what you might think." He beamed a little at the thought of being able to help but Kisshu missed it as he continued to pretend to be sharpening his blades.

"Amuse me then."

"If you really like don't like her, just tell her. I don't think you've ever been straightforward with how you feel about her." Tart made a spinning motion with his finger. "You dance around the truth as though she's going to understand. But here's the thing about women: they don't always read through that. If you're being too vague-which you are-she'll never know what you're trying to say."

Kisshu smirked a bit at the genuine effort Tart was putting into this. "I don't think you give women enough credit, kid. They're smart. They just pretend they can't see the truth when they don't want to believe it."

"I'm just saying."

Kisshu set his knife down. "Don't want to believe it..." _What if Ichigo is just...in denial...?_

"You think that's what's going on with Sammy?"

Kisshu stood up. "Yeah. I think that's what's going on." He rubbed his knuckles into Tart's head and laughed as he hit his hand away in protest. "Thanks Tart. You're a huge help."

"You gonna talk to her?"

Before he would have to answer any more questions, Kisshu teleported out of the bunker, stepping foot onto a familiar tower.

"You bet I'm gonna talk to her." The blue sky and light breeze seemed to boost his morale the tiniest bit more.

He found her in the same park nearby the movie theater. She had her hair tied in two low pig tails with yellow satin ribbons and was holding two ice cream cones. Lover boy was nowhere in sight.

Kisshu landed behind the bench she was sitting on, just out of sight from other park-goers. "Ichigo?"

She jumped out of her seat and whirled around, visibly startled. Her eyes landed on him and widened. "K-Kisshu?" It came out a frightened hiss.

"Ichigo, I have-"

"Shit, ah, shit no, not now, Kisshu!"

Of course she wouldn't want to see him. Deep down he had mostly expected that. Either way, he had to do this now.

"Ichigo, I just want-"

"T-tonight! My room! Midnight! Now please go, go!"

Kisshu stood there, shocked at how willing she was to comply with his request. Truth be told, he had expected more of an argument, or a fight, or anything other than this.

Ichigo was growing more frantic by the minute. "Go, Kisshu! Anywhere you can't be seen!"

"O-okay...?" He flew backwards into the air and sat high up on a tree branch. The foliage was thick enough to cast dark shadows that would hide him away. Peering down at Ichigo, he watched her glance around, and then warily sit back down on the bench. Her leg was shaking ever so slightly, he observed.

Minutes later, Masaya came into view holding a small stack of napkins. "Sorry I took so long, Ichigo! Ready to go to the aquarium?"

The girl nodded meekly, and handed him his ice cream before letting him slip his hand into hers and lead her away.

Kisshu would let them walk for a bit before getting up to follow them. In the week he'd been gone, Ichigo seemed to have gotten more jittery than usual. Even more so than when she'd first gotten her Mew Mew powers. He had a strong suspicion that lover-boy was the one setting her on edge, but while Ichigo was in public, he couldn't do anything about that.

He layed back to close his eyes. Earth was nice. The air wasn't filled with a thick dust, the sky was bright, and the sunshine didn't get lost in the upper atmosphere. Thinking about it now, of course Ichigo wouldn't have wanted to leave her beautiful planet for his beat up, dying one.

Still, she had been more than willing to meet with him later. Ichigo hadn't even asked what it was that he wanted to discuss.

Something told him that she hadn't wanted that Aoyama kid to see him. Not because he was the perverted stalker alien from years ago but because she was genuinely afraid of what he would do if he got jealous that Kisshu was even around.

_Scared, huh,_ the alien pondered to himself. _She used to go running away from me straight into his arms, and yet now it feels like she wants to run away from everyone. _The idea of her begging him to save her caused his dormant feelings from so long ago to resurface. That was all he had wanted, really. To be _her _Blue Knight, _her_ hero, _her _lover.

Lover. He wanted her to love him. More than what his childish antics had communicated.

So was lover-boy-turned bad a good thing?

Kisshu groaned and rubbed a hand through his dark green locks. No, it was bad. Ichigo out of all people coming to _him_ meant something was going horribly wrong. Her willingness to meet him, to talk with him, to even be in the same space as him was all _wrong_. Ichigo being tolerant of him was wrong.

Despite all this, he knew that he had to fix things, even if it meant her hating him again. It was the natural order of the universe,

A small breeze drew him out of his thoughts. Kisshu lingered for a moment longer, and then flew off towards the aquarium to keep an eye out on Ichigo.

The pair of them came out several hours later. Ichigo was laughing and holding onto his arm, and Masaya was holding a small strip of paper with photos on it. Kisshu had to look away for a few moments. On the outside, they both seemed perfectly happy. She looked like she loved him just as much as when she was thirteen. Who was he to say that she didn't?

"I had a great time, Aoyama-kun." Ichigo smiled up at him as they walked towards the bus stop.

"Me too, Ichigo. See, when you just try to enjoy yourself, we have a great time together." Masaya kissed her head, not seeing her smile falter the tiniest bit.

"I-I guess you're right." She let go of his arm and stopped walking, causing Masaya to turn around. "A-Aoyama-kun, I..."

"Is everything alright, Ichigo?" His tone was gentle, but it was that gentleness that scared her the most.

"I wanted-I wanted to apologize for last night, I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"

He pulled her in a close hug. "It's okay, I forgive you. You made a mistake, but you're learning from it, right?"

"Yeah, I'm doing my best."

Masaya tipped her chin up to look at him. "I love you so much, Ichigo Momomiya."

Her heart skipped a beat. He hadn't told her that in so long. _He still loves me! He loves me!_ "I love you too, Aoyama-kun."

Kisshu buried his face into his knees as Masaya leaned in, not wanting to see him them kiss.

Seeing someone else take the girl he loved for granted hurt more than it should have.

There were no stars out by the time Kisshu arrived at her house that night. Everything had clouded over, leaving the sky as inky black as his home planet. He shuddered against the wood of the tree in her front yard, watching his breath dissipate. Wasn't summer supposed to be the warm month? Or maybe that was winter; he always got the two confused.

Ichigo's window abruptly lit up with a dim glow. The glass slowly slid open, and the red head slid the curtains over tensely. "K-Kisshu...? Are you here?"

He glided up to her window slowly, so as not to startle her. Ichigo stepped aside, allowing him to enter, looking somewhat sleepy. Kisshu's gaze was immediately drawn to the dark mark on her right shoulder, but he made it a point not to make a big deal about it. More important was getting her to understand her situation and get her out of it. If Ichigo couldn't see what was going wrong, then he would show her.

She sat on her pink comforter and placed a now dormant Masha in her lap to pet it. "S-sorry about the park, I-"

"It's okay, Ichigo."

"I...Sorry...What did you...?"

Kisshu realized he hadn't though over how he would begin the conversation. Diving right into it without rehearsal had only been his strong point with creepy flirting, not advice. Or help. Or whatever this was going to be. He took several deep breaths. _How can I begin this without sounding like I'm trying to win her affection?_

"Kisshu?"

"I..." Shit. He'd never had to have a conversation like this with her, unless you counted the one on top of Tokyo Tower. But that was mostly her talking. This was_ him_ having to talk.

He was nervous talking to Ichigo.

"Are you-"

"Yeah, yeah yeah." He waved a hand, brushing off her unfinished question as he floated next to her on the bed. "Let me think..."

Out of all people, Ichigo observed, Kisshu was one of the last people she would have thought to be at a loss for words. But he was right there, in the flesh, struggling for words.

She touched his arm just to make sure he was real.

Kisshu jumped a bit at the sudden touch, and turned his head to look at her. She was studying his arm, not looking at his face as he would have expected. Her small fingers were cold against his skin, but they were soft. She was beautiful, even with her eyes glazed over and distant.

He took a deep breath, and then touched her hand. "I-Ichigo-"

She yanked away. "S-sorry, I didn't-um-sorry-"

This, he could use this to get her to do the talking instead of him. And he wouldn't mess it up this time. "Ichigo, why are you apologizing so much...? You didn't do anything wrong, it's okay." Kisshu gently landed on the bed.

"Sorry..."

Carefully, he put an arm around Ichigo's shoulder, drawing her close so that she was leaning against her. "It's okay. I promise, you didn't do anything."

She took several deep breaths to keep from apologizing again. "What...what did you want to talk about?"

_Damn it, back at square one._ He gave her a sideways glance and sighed. "I'm...worried. About you, Ichigo."

The look she gave him as she pulled away gently was riddled with confusion. "Me?"

"Yeah... Ichigo, I... All the bruises, the way you're always apologizing and acting frightened, it's not like you. You were so...confident and outgoing and assertive. And that...scares me, I guess."

"How are you able to make that comparison?" Ichigo's words abruptly turned defensive.

"From when we fought so long ago to now, you're so different. Ichigo-"

"But you've only been around recently."

_No no no, don't be that way, damn it,_ he thought, heart rate increasing. "But the only times I've tried to talk to you, you always-"

"Stop trying to get me to love you, Kisshu!"

He jumped back up into the air. "That's what you think this is about? _Winning you over_ out of all the stupid things you think I would be after?"

He could see Ichigo flinch at the way his voice rose in volume. But she still held her ground. "Why-why else would you-?"

Kisshu flew in front of her and grabbed her shoulders. "Because I'm afraid that your supposedly perfect boyfriend is hurting you, and even if you don't realize it Ichigo, I don't want you to get-" His voice caught in his throat as his eyes locked with hers.

_-to get completely broken by someone who doesn't even love you._

He let her go and flew over to the window. "Have you ever thought about it, Ichigo? About the way he treats you?"

"It's my fault though, I'm the one who sets him off-"

"You're not!" Kisshu slammed his fist against her wall, startling both of them. "Just... Think about it Ichigo. Please. For me. Think, is anything you've done really so bad that you deserve to feel so awful all the time?"

She lowered her head. "Well I...I'm not always considerate of his feelings, and that's why he gets so angry..."

"Ichigo, tell me." He turned around to face her. "Has your mom ever done something to upset your father?"

"Well, yeah. Of course."

He looked at her, wanting to just hold her in his arms and make everything feel okay. "Has he ever hit your mom?"

Ichigo stared back, a lightbulb slowly flickering on in the deepest part of her, the part she had buried under layers upon layers of protection because she didn't want to believe that Aoyama-kun could act so horible. "I..." All those times. She forced herself back through every fight her parents had had. The fight when Ichigo went to go work at a strange café at such a young age, the fight when her dad hadn't wanted her to fight Aoyama, the fight over college funds and vacation trip costs. But...

Not once had her mom ever come away with bruises.

"I-!" She gingerly put her hand over her mouth as her eyes watered up.

"Hey, hey." He drew her into his arms and held her there as she broke down. She hadn't said much, so he couldn't tell if he'd gotten the point across. But her defenses were down again. That was the first step.

"He-he hits-I'm scared, Kisshu-"

"It's okay. It's okay, Ichigo. I've got you."

Ichigo struggled to catch her breath and voice as the tears fell one after the next. His familiar rugged scent filled her mind, throwing her back to her fighting days. But this embrace was so different than when he'd grab her from behind and try to take her away, or when he'd grab her face to look at him. This one was warm, and protective, and safe.

She felt safe, like when he'd come to visit before.

Ichigo drew away a little, keeping her eyes down. "Kisshu...I..."

Instantly, he pulled away. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, I'm-"

Before he could answer, Ichigo shoved him down onto her bed and got on top of him. Her eyes closed, missing the expression of shock on his face as she melted into his lips and kissed him.


	7. Chapter 7

This chapter is actually just a "filler chapter" of sorts to set locations and set events rolling. LovelyLily13 The confrontation and drama is actually next chapter! I didn't want to cram it all together since I wanted the climax to take up an entire chapter. Gotta wait a bit more :3

Chapter 8 has already been started as well, so I have that in the queue. Read and review please! As this fanfic is quickly coming to an end as my "warm up" story, I'm in need of new ideas. For the most part I'm open to nearly anything for Tokyo Mew Mew, but I've been wanting to try doing a fic for another anime. Hm.

Enjoy 3

~Ren

Kisshu stared up at the ceiling of Ichigo Momomiya's room, watching her ceiling fan spin around in circles, casting shadows on the dim lights from late four am. Her head was resting on his bare chest as she slept, his arm around her. Next to the bed were both his and her clothes strewn along the floor in a messy overlapping pattern.

What did Ichigo say made people's heads funny...? Drinking...? Had she been drinking?

He sighed, wanting to get out of there, make her think it was just a dream. But she had seemed alert and coherent. Leaving would leave too much possibility of hurting her.

Kisshu stared at her naked chest and stomach. She was beautiful. But there were so many bruises everywhere it looked as though any sort of touch would be painful.

He should have been happy; the girl of his dreams had thrown herself at him and given him absolutely everything she was. She was sleeping next to him, in the same bed, and without any clothes on.

It just didn't feel right.

As much as he had enjoyed last night, it had been more than obvious that she had just used him to try and forget about Aoyama and to make herself feel better.

The red-head stirred next to him. Kisshu reached over and stroked her hair gently and she looked up at him with sleep ridden eyes.

Within a split second, her expression changed to anger and she shoved him off the bed, leaving him naked on the floor as she pulled up the bedsheets around her to cover herself. "W-what the _fuck_, Kisshu?!"

He grabbed his clothes and began hurriedly putting them back on. She wanted him out of there. Of course. He knew he had just been used. He'd been right all along.

"Out! _Get out!_"

"I'm sorry, Ichigo-"

"I don't want to see you here ever again you creepy, perverted alien!"

Her words tripped a switch in his mind, and Kisshu grabbed both her wrists and slammed her against the mattress, livid. "Look here, _Koneko-chan_. I did _nothing_ last night that you weren't completely okay with. So if you think  
that-" His face broke into a grin. "-_I'm_ the one who's in the wrong, you'd better think again."

He got up, and floated towards her window. "I get that you're not in a great place right now, Ichigo. But the least you can do is not play with me like that. Just because I'm not human doesn't mean I don't have emotions."

She glared at him until he disappeared into the familiar series of ripples, and then made a mad dash to get some clothes on her.

What had she done?

Aoyama-kun had asked her so many times if she had been ready for sex, and every single time, she'd told him that she wasn't ready for it. He'd always respected that,

But last night in the heat of the moment, she'd just given herself away. Her first time, and with /him/ no less.

Ichigo sat on her bed and stared vacantly at the floor. _I'm awful. I'm a horrible, cheating girlfriend._

When her alarm went off thirty minutes later, she grabbed the pile of clothes on her floor and dumped them into the hamper. Ichigo rushed downstairs before she saw the two red bandages crumpled on the ground at the side of her bed.

Her cell phone rang while she was in the middle of breakfast. Ichigo set down her apple slice and looked at the number on the screen.

Aoyama-kun

Her mind leapt into a panic. /Did he find out already? Is that even possible?/ Reluctantly, she answered his call. "H-hello?"

"Ichigo! You picked up!" His voice sounded cheerful, which relaxed her a little bit. He wasn't angry at anything.

"Yeah, what's happening so early in the morning?"

She could hear him sigh on the other end. "Ichigo, I know you're living at your place right now because it's closer to school, but I...I really miss you being here at our place."

Ichigo couldn't help but smile, flattered at him showing that he wanted her to be close to him. It wasn't just one sided, thank goodness. "I miss you too, Aoyama-kun."

"I was thinking...Would you like to live here every other week? Just to see how it works?"

She thought it over in her head. The school was too far away for her to walk back and forth from their apartment. But living with him would give her more of a chance to prove her love and show how much better she could be.

"Would you be able to take me to my classes?"

His smile could almost be heard through the receiver. "I'm more than willing to, Ichigo."

"I-I'll get my stuff, can you pick me up? I can go over right now."

"Sure thing, Ichigo. I'll see you in a few."

Ichigo hung up and went back upstairs to pack a suitcase.

The sky outside of Kisshu's window was black. It always was. There was so much smoke from all of the explosions during the war that, even years later, the atmosphere still hadn't been able to clean it up. He could only see the dirt a few feet out.

Sitting up took too much effort. He slumped against his pillow and rolled over to face the wall.

"I thought Tart was making things up when he said you'd been acting strange. It seems he was correct."

Kisshu turned around at the around at the sound of his older sibling's voice. "What, the brat say something so interesting that you've actually bothered to come talk to me?"

"You haven't been training lately."

Kisshu changed his mind and turned over again. "I know."

"You also reek of sexual activity."

"Wha-?!" He bolted upright, knowing his face had just turned fifty different shades of red.

Pai's expression didn't waver once. "It's not really any of my business what you do with yourself. However, you haven't been actively seeing Samara, so I can't help but wonder who you're so involved with."

"No one. I got used."

Pai stared at him from the doorway. "That's usually your job."

"Shut up."

"The last time you acted this upset was 7 years ago when you were infatuated with the cat Mew."

"I don't need Ichigo."

"I never said you did."

"Shit-" Kisshu tripped over his words as he got up and flew past Pai. "She's not worth my time. Never was."

He didn't hear what Pai said as he disappeared down the hallway and teleported to Earth. This planet was always strangely comforting. Somehow, he always ended up back here, wanting to see Ichigo just one last time. Truth be told, it was always just 'one more time'.

Kisshu wanted her to love him. He'd even be willing to stay here for her. Maybe it was time to ask her for the last time, and be content with the answer she gave.

He wasn't sure if he could deal with taking 'no' for an answer.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm baaaack! I've had this done for awhile but I was just too lazy to upload it. The next 2 chapters are done too, but I don't quite like them so I'm still tweaking things. Trigger warning in this chapter for more prominent sexual themes and a small about of violence.

(I realize my chapters are like super short. My excuse is that this is my warm up fanfiction before I start something bigger ")

Also, thank you to QueenIzzie for all of your reviews, your reactions made me laugh xD

~Ren

The television flickered in the dark as Ichigo sat on the couch in the apartment her and Masaya shared. She could hear the shower nozzle in the bathroom down the hallway squeak off. This place reminded her of when she was younger; when they'd both moved in, they'd been perfectly happy and content with everything.

But it had also been the place where she'd first realized things were getting worse. It was an odd, melancholic feeling coursing through her from this place that scared her whilst drawing her back again.

The scariest thing that had happened tonight however, was the way Masaya had been silent the entire trip to the apartment. They'd had a fairly nice day until this evening when he'd gotten into the shower. He'd been in there for the past hour or so. It was possible he was just tired, but she didn't like him quiet. Quiet meant thinking too much about something.

The nine o'clock news started up and Ichigo nestled into the arm of the couch. Hopefully he wasn't angry. Masaya was her ride to class tomorrow night.

Finally, the door clicked open and Masaya stepped out shirtless and wearing a pair of shorts. "Ready to go to bed, Ichigo?"

"Yeah." The television screen flickered off as she got up and followed him to their bedroom.

Kisshu was stalling, and he knew it. It had never been this hard because he always knew he was going to come back and at least watch her from a distance. But this time, he had promised himself that if she said no, he would leave it at that. It was time to let go; not only so that Ichigo could stop worrying about him but also so that he could finally move on. All these years later and he was still tied down to the cute pink Mew Mew he'd met when he'd first come to Earth,

Who would have guessed he'd have gotten so attached to her?

Before going to talk to her though, he was flying overhead Tokyo, trying to embed it all into his brain. The bright lights, the dull chattering, the stars, and the breeze were all things he'd never been able to experience. Kisshu didn't want to leave any of this, but other than through Ichigo, he had no reason to stay.

He wasn't only going to lose her; he was going to lose this beautiful planet for good as well.

His final stop before Ichigo's house was none other than Tokyo Tower. The top had the best view and was the least noisy in his opinion.

Kisshu needed to cry again, but coming to her with puffy eyes and a dripping nose didn't sound very presentable. Instead, he just stared up at the distant sky, at all the stars millions and billions of miles away. Who would have thought that this one planet out of every planet out there would be the one he'd come to love?

Stalling.

He laughed to himself as he remembered the first time he and Ichigo had met. She'd been so angry and surprised when he'd kissed her, even though now he wished he hadn't.

Stalling.

It was colder than usual tonight for some reason. Kisshu reached down to his forearm absent-mindedly to adjust the wraps on his arms.

They weren't there.

He stared at the bare skin, shocked at how he'd only just noticed. Kisshu rarely ever took them off, even to wash his arms. They were a status symbol on his planet. And he'd just lost them.

_Ichigo,_ he realized. _I must have taken them off that night and forgot about them._

Now he had to go back. A small knot began forming in his throat as he made his way towards her house for the last time.

Her bedroom window was dark, but it was also considerably late, Kisshu tapped on the window gently. "Ichigo...?"

The bed had been remade in dark red sheets. Masaya walked over to the dresser and began rummaging around inside of it.

"A-Aoyama-kun, are you mad at me...?" Ichigo forced out the question before she could think enough to stop herself. He had seemed so cheerful this morning. Had it all been an act?

He didn't reply until he found what he was looking for, crumpled it up in his hand, and sat down on the bed next to Ichigo. She wanted to move away, but was afraid that such an action would only make him more angry. Forcing an answer out of him was no good either. All she could do was listen to the quiet motor of the ceiling fan spinning in circles, the only noise in an otherwise silent room.

"Ichigo..."

Her attention focused in as he started to speak.

"...what are these...?" His hand opened as he dropped what he'd been holding into her lap. Two crumpled, red bandages unfurled onto her legs.

Ichigo looked at them, genuinely confused. "Red ribbons? What's so special about those?"

Masaya gave her an empty sideways glance that made her blood run cold. "A few things are..._special_ about these, Ichigo. First, these are not the red ribbons you used to tie your hair with."

She was still confused. "I can tell, but what are they?"

He took them back into his hands and tightened his fist. "Second...haven't you seen these somewhere before?"

Ichigo raced madly through her mind to try and figure out where he was going with this and why it was making him so upset. "I'm not sure what you're trying to say, Aoyama-kun."

His knuckles had paled so white it was as though they were going to burst through his skin. "If I remember correctly, Ichigo, didn't a certain..._alien_...wear something like these...?"

Her eyes widened as everything frighteningly clicked into place. "Kisshu..."

Masaya grabbed her wrist. "Has Kisshu been here? Why haven't you told me this?"

_Don't panic don't panic._ "I- He- It was only recently, I hadn't had a chance to tell you yet-"

"_Bullshit!_" Ichigo cringed and tried to break free from his grip as his words suddenly accelerated into shouting. "You could have told me this morning, easily! Why'd you wait for me to find these half-hidden under _your_ bed?!"

"I didn't know he'd taken them off, I'm sorry Aoyama-kun! Please believe me, I was going to tell you!"  
His expression suddenly vanished as he stared blankly at her. "Taken them off...Taken them off..." Just as quickly, the anger rushed back, doubled. "_Taken them off?!_" he roared, hitting her across the face. "_Why was he taking clothes off?!"_

"I-I-" Her face burned and her eyes had begun to water up. He was so scary, so scary.  
Masaya threw her onto the bed and her head hit the headboard with a loud crack. Adrenaline surged through her as she scrambled to distance herself from him in vain. The look in his eyes said he knew.

"You fucking _slept_ with him, didn't you! You fucking _slut!"_ Another hit across the face, this time with his fist. "All those times you said no to me, it's because you were whoring around with that bastard!"

"Ao-Aoyama-kun-"

"Don't you fucking 'Aoyama-kun' me! And I was so nice to you today too! This is what I get from you in return?! Sleeping with an alien from seven fucking years ago?!" _Slap._ "You fucking bitch!" _Slap._ After all I've done for you!" _Slap._ "You decided you were too good for me, huh?! Is that it?!"

_Slap.__  
_

Tear after tear fell as she tried to raise her arms to defend herself to no avail. Both sides of her face were completely numb with pain, Her wrist was probably bruised from the strength of his grip. "S-S-Sorry-"

"You're gonna be sorry. And you're gonna pay for this, I'll make you remember what it feels like to be betrayed the way you betrayed me."

Before she could say anything more, Masaya grabbed her and forced her down onto the bed. Dazed and mentally shutting down, Ichigo lay there helpless as he ripped her night shirt off forcibly. Several of the buttons ripped off of the fabric and disappeared into the dark of the room. Her breasts were left exposed as he continued to strip her.

"N-no, no, stop-plea-"

"Shut up, bitch."

Ichigo lay there in the dark naked as her boyfriend forced himself onto her as he held her down. Masaya shoved a cloth into her mouth to keep her quiet, but it wouldn't have mattered. She was long gone, trying desperately to ignore the pain pounding between her legs.


	9. Chapter 9

…Last time I updated was in August I'm so ashamed " I don't even have an excuse other than I just forgot whoops aha ^^" Thanks to everyone who is still here though! The final chapter is done too and I'll be uploading that soon after this. I might make an epilogue if some of you want one Q.Q (I'm also currently developing a plot for another TMM fanfic, completely separate of this one ofc.)

~Ren

It took him awhile to conclude she wasn't at her house. Flying through every room had only made him realize that she had spent the night elsewhere. Only her parents were home, both sitting in front of the television enjoying their evening. So where was Ichigo?

A quick trip to the café confirmed it to be empty as well. Kisshu groaned and sat on the counter next to the register, snatching a cooking from the unlocked display case. She could be anywhere and he wouldn't know where to even begin looking. It was night, so where would she be sleeping?

A light went off in his head. The air rippled and he disappeared, reappearing on the roof of Mint Aizawa's enormous house. After checking around for any disturbances, Kisshu teleported inside and began to silently fly through every room. He couldn't turn the lights on, so when he came into what he didn't know was the master bedroom, his foot bumped the nightstand and knocked a vase to the floor. It exploded with loud smash sending fragments of expensive painted porcelain everywhere.

Mint bolted upright, instantly woken from her sleep. Kisshu slowly floated up to the ceiling, hiding himself before her eyes could adjust. She sleepily pulled back the covers and put her slippers on to investigate. Kisshu covered his eyes as the light snapped on.

"Wha-?"

Before she could say anything more, he flew down and covered her mouth with his hand, fighting her as she struggled. "Hey, hey I'm gonna let you talk so please don't scream, okay? I need your help."

The Mew Mew froze in her tracks as the cynical voice registered itself with her. As his grip released her, she whirled around, breathing hard. "Y-you-!"

Kisshu needed her to calm down before asking her anything. Getting an alarm pulled wouldn't help either of them.

"Kisshu, what the _hell _are you doing here?"

"I needed..." He pulled his legs up so that he was floating cross-legged. "I need to know where Ichigo is-"

"Forget it." Mint walked over to the door, yanking it open. "Here's the exit, please leave."

"I-"

She huffed. "If you think I'll let you know where she is so that you can stalk her again, you're wrong."

He sighed. "That's not... Look, I won't be able to come back here after this and I just wanted to say goodbye."

Her eyebrow raised itself. "Sure."

"You've got to believe me, just this once.  
"

No way in hell am I going to help you, you psycho pervert."

"Look," Kisshu muttered, trying his best to stay polite. "If I could come back later and look, do you really think I would come to you for help? Hell, why would I come to you for help with anything?"

Mint mulled that over. "I...suppose not. Hm..." She grabbed a piece of paper from her desk and began drawing a map. "If she's not at her house, she's probably...here," she concluded, drawing an x at the spot.

"Thanks." Kisshu took it, ignoring the cynical look on her face, and headed towards the door.

"Don't you dare hurt her or scare her, got it?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Birdie." He disappeared before her angry retort could reach his ears.

The map was simple enough. It started at the mansion and continued right for several blocks before branching off down a side street. Kisshu found himself at a fairly large building with several windows. _How does she own a house this large...?_

Inside the building he found several different doors, each with its own number. Mint had wrote 306 on the map and circled it. After a bit of searching, he found the door on the third floor and let himself in.

It was smaller than he'd expected, almost like a hotel. The entire place was dark except for the moonlight coming in through the open curtains behind the television. Kisshu floated over onto the couch and put his hands behind his head, sighing. This place humans lived in wasn't too much different from his own, except his people would never live more than one floor off the ground. The conditions were terrible and too dangerous for anything too high up. Therefore, everything went deep underground instead, connected through a series of large tunnels.

This piece of furniture, he thought, was far nicer than anything he'd ever slept on. He could fall asleep here as matter of f-

"...you...don't try...fuckin'..."

Kisshu sat up abruptly at the faint sound of voices. He slowed his breathing and froze, listening intensely.

"...s...Ao..."

It was quiet, yet his gut told him it was Ichigo. She was here! He could still talk to her!

The sounds came from down the hallway, and he paused right outside the first door on the left. He took a deep breath, hand trembling above the doorknob. This could be a bad idea. Ichigo would hate him to death if he walked in on anything intimate. She'd throw something dangerous at his head and that would be the end of anything he'd have planned to say.

More muffled words drifted through the door. Kisshu reasoned that if they were talking it couldn't be too bad to walk in on it. With a sense of finality, he gripped the handle and pushed the door inwards. "Ichi-"

"You bitch-!" Masaya had his hands around her neck, both of them nude on the bed. Ichigo's legs were on either side of his torso as he hammered into her, her arms limp at her side. At the sound of the door opening however, he whirled around, pulling out.

The sight of Kisshu, who was standing there shocked and confused, drove him over the edge.

Masaya pulled his boxers up and charged at him. "_You! You son of a bitch I'll fucking kill you!_"

Kisshu barely had enough time to teleport to the other side of the room. Masaya ripped open a box on his desk and pulled out a short dagger. "C'mere, freak, I'll rip you to fucking shreds."

It was a great excuse to kill him. He could easily slit his throat or stab him in the heart with one of his own blades. The moron was half naked and too angry to be thinking rationally.

His gaze snapped to Ichigo, who was laying on the bed with glazed eyes staring at the ceiling, tears streaming down her face. She hadn't moved at all, but her chest was rising up and down quickly with panic. Her legs had slumped down to one side and there was a streak of blood on the sheets. Her neck was turning dark from what he could see and it looked slightly swollen. And all over her body he could make out all the marks from when he had hurt her, blotches of stained color on her arms and thighs and stomach.

He looked back at Aoyama and teleported out of the way again as he came at him with the knife. He wanted him dead. The bastard that had hurt his beloved Ichigo deserved the death penalty several times over.

"What have you done to Ichigo?!"

"Taking back what you keep trying to steal," he whispered, shoulders heaving. As he lunged again, Kisshu had to admit, in the darkness of the room, Aoyama looked frightening. He could smell liquor on his breath too as he dodged once again. Masaya crashed into the dresser, knocking a lamp to the floor. The bulb shattered into pieces that melted away into the shadows.

"Shit!"

_What do I do…?_ Albeit intimidating, Ichigo's boyfriend wasn't actually much of a threat. Drunken and in a state of rage, Kisshu could play keep away for as long as he wanted.

The sound of Ichigo sharply inhaling drew his attention away from Masaya for a moment. He lowered his hand and stopped himself from summoning his blade. This wasn't a game, and he had no time to play it. Ichigo was-

"_Bastard!_"

Kisshu let out a cry of pain as he slammed into the window, rattling the walls. Masaya then threw him to the floor and pounded him with one hand while Kisshu held away the hand with the knife.

"_I'll fucking kill you, you hear me?! I'll kill you!_"

Kisshu tried to teleport away, but Aoyama had a firm grip on his neck. He needed a break in the punches, a distraction. "Ichigo-!"

Masaya's face twisted as he hit Kisshu square in the stomach. "_Don't you fucking speak to her you piece of shit!_"

All the air disappeared from his lungs. Masaya brought both hands onto the knife handle and began pushing it towards the alien's throat. Kisshu brought up a foot to kick Aoyama in the crotch, but he blocked it with the side of his leg

"K-Koneko-chan…"

"_I said don't talk-_"

"Ki…?"

Masaya faltered for just a moment at the sound of her voice, his grip loosening. Kisshu slammed his knee into Aoyama's ribs as he wrestled the dagger from his hands, then kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold.

Ichigo was barely conscious, mumbling fragmented words as she lay dazed on the bed. Kisshu rolled Masaya off to the side as he glowered over him. "Sorry, Prince Charming. I didn't come here for you." He scooped up Ichigo and disappeared, leaving her unconscious boyfriend behind.

He arrived at her house and lay her on her bed gently, covering her with a few blankets to hide her exposed body. She was still staring at nothing, frozen in place.

Kisshu sat next to her and stroked her hair gently. "I...Ichigo... I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

Her glowing clock on her desk read two am. It was early, and if he hadn't come, no one would have, and no one would have found out. He sighed again, glad he had made the decision to come back. If only he'd been earlier...

Ichigo stirred, becoming more aware of her surroundings. Kisshu jumped and turned to look at her, quickly rushing to cover her mouth as she opened it to scream.

"Ichigo-! Ichigo shhh!" Kisshu pulled her close, waiting for her to stop fighting him before letting go slowly. "It's okay, Ichigo...It's okay now. I'm here. I'll keep you safe, I promise. I promise."

She melted into his arms and broke down sobbing, her entire body violently convulsing without sound. He wrapped more blankets around her and stroked her hair.

Kisshu had a lot of time to think as he sat there in silence, trying to be of some comfort to her. For years he had been infatuated with this Mew Mew. Even longer he had wished she would love him.

But in that moment, he knew the only thing he wanted was for her to be okay again. He wanted to see her happy and unbroken and carefree. He wanted her to love everything without being scared of it.

Kisshu laid his face gently into the nook of her neck and closed his eyes, his chest so constricted he could barely breathe.

Seeing her like this hurt so much more than him being heartbroken over her.

This was worse than anything he'd ever felt.

Ichigo calmed down about an hour later, her sobs turning into a runny nose and sniffles. She was sitting up on her own, so Kisshu kissed her head and retrieved a nearby box of tissues for her.

When she finally spoke, her voice was choked and broken and scared. "K-Kissh-Ki-"

She tensed up as he touched her arm but relaxed as he slowly drew her close. "I won't hurt you. I promise you, Ichigo. You're safe. Nothing can hurt you."

"I-" Her mind was a mess as she tried to put a coherent sentence together. "It hurts...Kisshu it h-hurts..."

"I know...I know..."

"I-" Ichigo's voice cracked yet again. "I'm sorr-y..."

He tipped her chin carefully to look at him, making sure she wasn't feeling threatened in any way. "Ichigo. You..." Kisshu fumbled and looked away. "You're everything wonderful in the world, Ichigo... None of this is your fault, and you never deserved this, I-I should be sorry, I didn't save you in time, I just wish-"

Her eyes looked into his.

"-that I could have prevented this from happening so-"

Her lips parted ever so slightly.

"that you wouldn't have been in so much danger and gotten so hurt, I wish-"

"Kisshu."  
He forced himself to lock eyes with her. He knew he had been too late, that he looked pathetic, weak, needy-

"Thank you, Kisshu."


	10. Chapter 10

Finally all the chapters are up, WOW I've been so good at being inconsistent. But I finished so I suppose that's an accomplishment in and of itself yeah? School's been awful to be honest but I'll manage I hope.

If any of you would like a short epilogue or would just like to leave helpful feedback, leave a review and lemme know UwU

~Ren

The sun rose before either of them could get to sleep. Kisshu had had his arm around her for hours and was trying to ignore the fact that he had lost all circulation to his hand.

Ichigo, on the other hand, had been staring vacantly ahead, her mind in a whirlwind of incoherent thoughts. Every time she tried to grab one and process it, her mind pushed it away before she could fully grasp the situation. Maybe that was for the better. She knew what had happened, but comprehending the full situation and how bad it had really been… That was too much for now. She couldn't let herself think about that now.

And then there was Kisshu.

He didn't seem like he had known. He hadn't come to show off and rescue her. It was more as though he had arbitrarily showed up for some reason, and also somehow found out she was at Aoyama-kun's. Ichigo was thankful, however, that he had come when he did, regardless of how or why.

She could hear her father's alarm go off down the hallway and quickly glanced at the lock on her door to make sure it was turned, She got up quietly, the blanket still draped around her to hide her body.

"Ichigo...?" Kisshu kept his voice at a barely audible whisper.  
S

he quietly started taking clothes out of her closet. "I'm going to get dressed."

"Oh. Okay." He politely turned away to face the window so that she wouldn't be uncomfortable.  
The sun was just barely starting to peak over the horizon, Kisshu stared out at the tree near her window, replaying the events of last night himself. It amazed him-not in a good way-that the supposedly perfect lover she had fallen for so long ago had turned into someone so awful. Kisshu hadn't been great his first time around; he knew that. But he hadn't raped Ichigo. And he had come a long way, while Aoyama seemed to have forgotten basic human morals.

He smiled down at himself when he wondered if that fact made him more human than Aoyama.

What shocked him most however, was how he had responded. Compared to the childish behavior from years ago, he had...matured. More than he wanted to admit. The teasing had nearly gone away entirely and had been replaced by a need to better Ichigo's life in any way possible.

Even now, it would be so easy to grab her and take her away, but the lump in his gut made him realize that that wouldn't get him what he wanted. It wasn't all about him anymore, and he struggled to understand how his past self couldn't see that he had been being completely self-centered. He hadn't loved her then; he hadn't had any idea of what love even was. Ichigo had just been a toy, something to call his own because she was from Earth, and the laws of his home didn't apply here. He had thought he could take what he wanted. But now was different. The hole in his heart had changed from a need to feel entitled to a need for Ichigo's companionship.

He had no right to even suggest it, but he wanted her to love him.

And he loved her beyond anything he could imagine.

Kisshu's thoughts were interrupted by a hoodie and sweatpants smacking into the back of his head. He turned around, confused.

Ichigo was dressed in a baggy sweater and jeans. "Put those on. They're…Aoyama-kun's…so they should fit. You can't be seen in public with your clothes. Oh and this. For your ears." She tossed a black beanie at him.

"Um-what-?"

"Just do it, Kisshu."

He warily complied. The pullover and beanie were comfortable enough but the pants made a noisy swishing sound.

"Take me somewhere."

Kisshu was still very much so confused. "I...Where?"

She pulled on a pair of socks and shoes. "Anywhere, Kisshu."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Okay." The air rippled around them and Ichigo found herself in the park, sitting on the bench across from the water.  
The air was cold and filled with a light mist that covered the grass in a fine dew. Beams of sun reached from the horizon across the silent scenery. A flock of birds noisily disappeared from the tree above them, having been startled. Ichigo rested her head against Kisshu's shoulder. "Kisshu... Can I ask you something?"

He didn't really want to know what she wanted to ask, but he wasn't going to turn her away. "Yeah."

"Why..." She looked at the sidewalk. "Why did you come back? At that moment?"

She smelled of peaches despite her name, he noted. The warmth of her head was comforting, and the warmth of her hand as she took his helped the shaking stop. "The truth is..." The words caught in his throat. "I came back to say goodbye. For the last time. No more stalking you, or being creepy...or any of that sort of nonsense."

Ichigo stared at their hands folded in his lap. "Goodbye?"

He didn't know how to reply to that.  
"Why would you leave? Permanently?"

"Isn't that... Isn't that what you always wanted, Ichigo? To be rid of me? To finally not have to worry about-"

"Kisshu."

He stopped mid-sentence.

"You know... All those years ago, I detested you."

Ouch.

"I wanted nothing to do with you. You _were_ creepy, and wouldn't leave me alone. You tried to kill me so many times and always got this crazy, scary look in your eyes when you didn't get your way. You were selfish and wouldn't listen to reason, and I wanted nothing more than for you to get out of my life. And you were trying to take over the world on top of all that. "

Kisshu could help but chuckle, and Ichigo smiled in response. "But... Then you defended me in the fight against Deep Blue, and I thought maybe you weren't so bad at all. I mean, you were bad at getting your thoughts across, and you were horribly immature, but we all were, and you were fighting for people you loved just like I was."

"And then you came back recently and I didn't know what to make of it. I thought you were just here to confess your love to me as usual. I figured I was just going to have to put up with all your antics again."

That made Kisshu freeze in place. It _had_ been his initial goal.

"But you know... You never once brought it up. All this time, you've been doing nothing but trying to help me. And I...I can't thank you enough for that. Most of all, thank you for saving me last night...And for making me realize that Aoyama-kun isn't...isn't a good person anymore..."

She paused. Even saying that Aoyama-kun was bad left a strange taste in her mouth.

"And I...I used you the other night, Kisshu, and I'm sorry..."

"I know. It's okay." And it was. It had hurt, but he hadn't regretted it either.

Ichigo sighed. "One more thing..."

He braced himself.

"_Do_ you still love me?"

Kisshu's heart stopped, as did his lungs as he struggled to contain his sudden panic. He didn't know what to say. He certainly couldn't tell her yes-she didn't want to hear that-but he didn't want to lie to her either. There was no good answer.

She lifted her head up so that she could look at him. "Kisshu?"

His fists were clenched tightly. He couldn't look at her. Couldn't talk to her. He wanted to disappear right then and there.

And then he felt the tears pushing out from beneath his eyes and he shut them tight so that she wouldn't see him cry.

"Kisshu? Are you okay? Look at me please?"

Might as well get this over with. It was the reason he had come back, and he needed to finish this.

Kisshu forced his eyes up to meet hers. "I-" The crack in his voice game him away. _Shit, shit, shit..._

Ichigo stared back, patiently waiting for him to finish.

"I've always loved-"

No. He really couldn't do this.

"I'm not mad Kisshu, I promise. You can tell me anything."

He needed to leave. Just teleport back home, back where everything bad was far away and he could be left alone. He'd never tell her and that would be okay.

"Kisshu, please-"

"_I can't lose you again!_"

She flinched at his outburst.

He brought his voice back down."I can't...I can't handle...Ichigo, I don't want to hear you tell me you don't love me. I can't take that. I already know, I've always known." Kisshu tilted his head back and stared at the orange clouds drifting overhead, trying to keep the tears in. "Ichigo, you... You've been the most important person to me for so long and I don't want to go back home after hearing you say that you-"

He was broken, and he had been holding so much in this entire time. He really had changed. The clingy, childish personality was gone. This was so much more than the hollow feelings he had declared before, and they hurt so much worse. Kisshu knew he would rather never hear her answer than to be rejected another time.

She touched his clenched hands carefully. "Do you still love me, Kisshu?"

He bit his tongue, hoping it would change the truth but it didn't. After staring into the slowly brightening sky for a long time, he felt the first tear escape down his cheek. There was no getting out of this. "Yes."

Ichigo pulled him into a tight embrace, not even hesitating as she replied, "I think I love you too."

Kisshu felt time all time around him freeze the moment those words left her lips.

"Y-you don't have to make things-make things up, Ichigo-" Of course. She was just being nice because he looked so pathetic. There was no other explanation.

"No, silly. I don't. That's why I'm telling you." She kissed him gently on the lips, but had to pull away as he broke into sobs.

He tried to say something several times, but nothing came out. He couldn't think, or breathe, or anything. It didn't make sense. The words she was saying didn't match up with anything he knew, and suddenly Kisshu became afraid he was asleep.

Ichigo Momomiya, the girl he had fought against in a war for the Earth, the girl he had scared and stalked and hurt, was telling him she loved him.

Ichigo took his other hand while he was still trying to comprehend it all. She watched the way he crumbled right in front of her and wondered how he had held that in for so long. His long hair stuck to his face and obscured his eyes from her view, but she knew the expression on his face.

Finally, Kisshu took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. He looked up and then looked at Ichigo. She smiled, and he tried to smile back but broke down crying again as relief washed over him. He was awake. This was real.

The first early morning joggers began appearing in the park. The two sat next to each other, holding hands in silence as the world moved around them.

Kisshu finally smiled at the ground and Ichigo couldn't help but laugh a little.

"What...?" Kisshu looked up at her.

"Hey, Kisshu."

"What's so…?"

Ichigo smiled at him. "Let's go on a date sometime."


End file.
